You have the app open, you have typed the PC name, and it will not connect. So you start opening firewall settings and reading about ports.
Hold on before any of that. There is one thing to check on the other machine, and for a lot of people it ends the search immediately.
I read the Remote Desktop state on this PC to see what a refusing machine actually looks like. It is refusing, and the reason is the edition of Windows it runs.
The one that catches most people
Say it plainly, because almost nothing else does.
⛔ Documented by Microsoft on its Remote Desktop page: "The PC you want to connect to (the remote PC) must be running Windows Pro edition of Windows."
⚡ Windows Home cannot be the machine you connect to. Not with a setting, not with a registry edit anyone should recommend.
⭐ Home can still be the machine you connect from. The client works fine. It is only hosting that is missing.
⚠️ Check that first, on the target PC, in Settings, System, About.
Ours: what a refusing machine reports
A measurement, and every value lines up with the same answer.
Ours, read on this machine. It runs Windows 11 Home, and the Remote Desktop switch reports connections refused.
⛔ There are zero firewall rules in the Remote Desktop group here, and nothing is listening on port 3389.
⚡ Those three readings are consistent, not three separate faults. Nothing is listening because nothing was ever allowed to.
⭐ Read yours before touching a router. Open Terminal and run:
(Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server').fDenyTSConnections⚠️ A 1 means Remote Desktop is refused. A 0 means it is allowed. That one digit saves an evening.
If your edition is right, turn it on properly
Microsoft's own two steps, and people skip the second.
Documented by Microsoft: "Turn on Remote Desktop and then select Confirm."
⭐ The route is Start, Settings, System, Remote Desktop, on the machine you want to reach.
⚡ Microsoft's next instruction is the one that gets skipped: "Make note of the name of this PC under PC name. You'll need this to connect later."
⚠️ That name is not your account name and not the model. Typing the wrong one produces a failure that looks exactly like a network problem.
The four things to read on the target PC
In order, and all four are free.
⭐ Edition. Pro, Enterprise or Education. Home stops here.
⚡ The switch. Turned on, and confirmed, in Remote Desktop settings.
⚠️ The firewall rules. Turning the switch on creates them. If the group is empty afterwards, the switch did not really take.
⛔ And whether it is awake. A PC asleep does not answer, and Remote Desktop settings has its own note about keeping it available.
Sleep is the cause nobody suspects
Worth its own line because it produces an intermittent fault.
⚡ It works, then it does not, then it works again. That pattern is almost always the target PC sleeping.
⭐ Set that machine to never sleep while plugged in before you investigate anything else.
⚠️ Ours, and marked as ours: an intermittent Remote Desktop is a power setting far more often than it is a network setting.
⛔ A machine that has actually shut down is beyond any of this. Nothing on it is running to answer you.
⚡ And Fast Startup makes Shut down something other than a full shutdown, which is why a restart and a shutdown behave differently.
When it is genuinely the network
Only once the target is confirmed correct.
⚠️ Same house, both on the same network: it should just work. If it does not, the target PC is on a network profile Windows treats as public.
⭐ Different building entirely is a different job. Microsoft's page covers turning it on and connecting locally, and does not cover reaching a PC from outside your network.
⛔ Do not open port 3389 to the internet. That is the single most attacked port there is, and there are safer ways in.
⚡ If the name will not resolve, the network stack on one end may be the problem. A network reset puts it back to defaults.
Status: read against Microsoft's Remote Desktop page, 26 August 2026, on Windows 11 Home. Edition, the connections value, the firewall group and port 3389 were read here. ⛔ This PC cannot host.
Can I use Remote Desktop on Windows 11 Home?
You can connect from it, but nothing can connect to it. Microsoft states that the PC you want to reach must be running a Pro edition. If the machine you are trying to control is running Home, that is your answer and no setting on either end will change it.
How do I know if Remote Desktop is actually enabled?
Read the setting rather than trusting the switch. The one-line command above prints a 1 if connections are refused and a 0 if they are allowed. Then check that firewall rules exist in the Remote Desktop group, because turning the switch on is what creates them.
Why does Remote Desktop work sometimes and not others?
Almost always because the PC you are connecting to went to sleep. A sleeping machine does not answer, and the failure looks identical to a network problem. Set that PC to never sleep while it is plugged in before you investigate anything else.
Should I forward port 3389 so I can connect from anywhere?
No. Port 3389 is one of the most attacked ports on the internet and exposing it directly is a bad idea. Microsoft's own consumer page covers connecting on your own network only. If you need access from outside, use a VPN or a remote access service rather than opening that port.
The Short Version
- Windows Home cannot be the PC you connect to. Only Pro and above can host.
- Home works fine as the machine you connect from.
- Check the edition on the target PC first, in Settings, System, About.
- One command tells you whether connections are refused or allowed.
- Turning the switch on is what creates the firewall rules. Check they exist.
- Note the PC name exactly. It is not your account name.
- Intermittent failures are usually the target PC going to sleep.
- Never forward port 3389 to the internet.
Where to Next
Check the edition of the PC you are trying to reach before anything else. If it says Home, you have your answer and you can stop.
If it is Pro, run the one-line command on it and read the digit. Refused or allowed, in one second, with no guessing.
Then set that machine to never sleep while plugged in. It is the commonest reason a working setup stops working.
If the name will not resolve at all, the network stack itself is worth clearing. A network reset is the blunt version and it works.
If yours turned out to be something none of this covers, say what it was in the comments. Remote Desktop failures get blamed on the network far more often than they deserve.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.